


Don't be like that

by LeDiz



Series: The 48: Pokemon [9]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Ash is special, Best at being the worst, Gen, Meowth is curious, pikachu is protective, series: BW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 14:18:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8164853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeDiz/pseuds/LeDiz
Summary: Meowth has gone undercover to infiltrate the Twerps! But Pikachu isn't falling for it, and Meowth is getting distracted. He always knew the Twerp was a twerp, but this is... something else...





	

“Hey, come on, buddy. Don’t be like that.”

‘ _Don’t_ you _be like that! He’s tricking you, you know he is!_ ’

“Yeah, but what if he’s not tricking us? What if he really was fired from Team Rocket?”

‘ _Then he still deserves everything that’s coming to him!_ ’

“Pikachu…”

Hidden behind a handy tree, Meowth narrowed his eyes. He knew Pikachu wasn’t as easy to fool as the Twerp, but he’d thought that travelling together for a few days, and all he’d done to help out so far, would be enough to get the rat on side. It had quit glaring at him, and was mostly nice enough during the day, but it had been muttering dark comments all night. It was enough that the Twerp had ‘decided to go for a walk’, taking Pikachu with him.

But then again, he was kinda surprised at how easy it had been to trick the Twerp. While he was always fooled by costumes and disguises, he’d long since stopped being surprised to discover new acquaintances were actually Meowth, Jessie or James. And with how well they’d been doing lately, the Twerp had been taking them more seriously than before. He’d thought for sure he’d have to mope around on the peripheral for at least a couple of days before the Twerp’s compassion would kick in.

So maybe it shouldn’t have been so surprising that Pikachu was still suspicious.

“I know. I hate Team Rocket too,” Ash continued quietly. “But you gotta remember, not even Jessie and James are actually Team Rocket. They’re just doing a job.”

Meowth frowned, peeking around the tree. The pair were sitting beside a river, facing each other. Pikachu looked as close to mutinous as it had been in years, while the Twerp had that look on his face. The one he usually wore when a pokemon was in pain or brainwashed and he had to calm it down.

Man, it was sickening.

“You know what I wish sometimes?” he said, voice dropping to almost a whisper. “Sometimes, after a good day like today, I kinda wish Jessie and James would get fired too.”

‘ _You what?_ ’ Pikachu demanded, and Meowth had to slap a paw over his mouth to stop himself from echoing it.

“Yeah, I know, it’s crazy right? But just think of all the good they could do if they weren’t bad guys! Jessie’s actually a great coordinator, and under all the… everything, James is actually a great battler, and really good with machines and stuff,” he continued. “Every time they’ve helped us out, it just felt… right, y’know? Like that was how it was really meant to be. I think, if they just gave being good a chance, we could be really great friends.”

Pikachu groaned. ‘ _Ash, sometimes you’re so…_ ’

“That’s why, even if this is a trick, I want to show Meowth the very best of travelling with us,” he insisted. “Because I know he has it in him to be a really great pokemon. He just needs a little help to get there.”

Pikachu sighed, and Meowth tried not to gag. How twerpish could you get?

 

* * *

 

Having followed the Twerp around so much, Meowth kinda knew Ash was… different.

Not just the twerpishness, because he could remember when the Twerp hadn’t been nearly so twerpish. When he’d been rough and arrogant and his love for pokemon had been his only redeeming feature to a lot of people he met. He’d helped people out back then, too, but he usually had to see some kind of benefit in it, and he’d been a lot sneakier.

Team Rocket should’ve nabbed him when they had the chance.

When he agreed to this job, he’d half done it because of the actual plan, and half because he wanted a chance to see the weirdness up close. He’d even hoped that Pikachu would relax enough around him to talk about it, maybe.

This, however… was not what he’d been expecting.

“How’s that feel?” Ash asked. “Not too hard?”

Meowth didn’t bother hiding his purr of bliss. “No, no, you’re good, Twerp. Keep it up.”

‘ _I can’t_ believe _this_ ,’ Pikachu muttered furiously. It was surprisingly easy to ignore.

He’d known, in an academic way, that trainers groomed their pokemon. And he also knew that Pikachu and the others, while not as immaculate as some, were ridiculously well cared for - something that hadn’t stopped when the Doctor Twerp left the group. But it wasn’t until they finished up a training session and Ash declared it bath time that Meowth realised that actually meant the Twerp himself groomed them.

It was a massive undertaking. All fur brushed, scales, scallops and beaks polished, wings preened, electrical pouches massaged, teeth cleaned, claws sharpened. And when it was all done, Ash looked around the group, nodded in satisfaction, and then did a double-take at Meowth’s blank stare. “Um… so, this might be kinda insulting, but… d’you want me to…?”

It had been insulting. Meowth wasn’t your typical pokemon after all. He didn’t eat pokeblocks. He didn’t let humans catch him, let alone bathe him. But while the others assured him it was great, it was actually Pikachu’s heated glare (trying to scare him off) that convinced him to say yes.

And holy toledo, but was it the best decision he’d ever made.

Ash just gave him a toothbrush and paste, pointing out to Iris that Meowth probably already did that himself like Pikachu could—which he did—but the claw sharpening had been weird. He usually did that himself too, with a nail file. The Twerp sat him in his lap and did it for him with this buffing tool. But it wasn’t the tool or even the position that made it weird. For the first time ever, as the nicks, scratches and bluntness were filed away, Meowth would swear he could feel his claws getting stronger. Not sharper, though that was happening too, but actually stronger. More like they did on the rare occasions he activated Fury Swipes.

And then, when Ash took up a soft brush and cleaned between his toes, Meowth almost felt like he could just sense that deep little part inside of himself that had been locked away for so long. That part he’d lost after putting so much effort into balancing on his hind legs. It happened again when Ash carefully polished up his charm.

“How’s that?” he asked as he wiped away the last of the polish. “Feel anything?”

“Uh huh,” he mumbled unconsciously, and the Twerp frowned.

“Darn, I thought I’d got it all. Hey, Oshawatt, can you pass me a fresh cloth? This one must be too dirty.”

And then he was polishing again and Meowth was lost in feeling the feeling.

And then. And _then_. There was the brushing.

Meowth had never been brushed before. Like most feline pokemon, he bathed. He took care of himself and his fur. But brushing was something he’d seen and heard about. Now he could officially call himself converted.

The first brush was coarse, and when Meowth complained, Ash explained it was get rid of dirt, bugs, and tangles—though he admitted that wasn’t much of an issue with Meowth’s short fur—but mostly dirt. It hurt to start with, and the Twerp kept dunking the brush in water, but once it was over Meowth had to admit he did feel… cleaner.

The next brush was soft, and sprayed with some kind of oil that smelt nice to some pokemon part of him he’d all but forgotten about.

“Yeah, you like that one, huh?” Ash said teasingly, as the brush slid down the back of his head to his back.

And he did. Oh, wow, did he like this brush. But…

But there was the other thing.

Sitting in the Twerp’s lap for so long, he’d gotten over the initial awkwardness, and Pikachu had gotten mostly bored with scowling at him to instead join in the conversation with the other pokemon. So maybe that was why he only now noticed how… comfortable it was. All meowths liked human laps—it came with the feline territory—but there was something so nice about this. The Twerp was warm, and strong, and his hands were surprisingly gentle as they moved him for better brushing. It had been a long time since Meowth had felt his muscles loosen up like this. He hadn’t realised how tense he was. But the Twerp was working out every one of his knots without even really touching him that much.

The third brush was dry and clean, and more like petting than anything. But by this point, Meowth was so far gone that he couldn’t object to the Twerp’s fingers scratching down his spine and under his chin. Besides, everywhere they went, it felt like a tiny little zing, waking him up again, leaving him feeling…

Alive, he realised when Ash finally set the brush aside. That’s how he felt.

Really, really alive.

“Okay, you’re done!” Ash said cheerfully. “How was that? Not so bad, right?”

“Uh,” Meowth blinked back disappointment and forced himself to jump out of the Twerp’s lap. “Yeah, I guess. Not something I’d wanna do every day or nothin’, but you know, not bad!”

Ash just laughed and grabbed the tool kit as he got to his feet. “Yeah, well, I’m no Brock. I’m gonna go clean these out. You comin’, Pikachu?”

Pikachu looked up from its conversation, shot Meowth a look, then agreed, hurrying over to take its customary spot on Ash’s shoulder.

Meowth tried to ignore the part of him that felt jealous.

 

* * *

 

“So… Pikachu,” Meowth began, sidling up to the rat. “I got a question for ya.”

Pikachu had the decency to look surprised. ‘ _You do?_ ’

It had been a good couple of days for the twerps, nothing but walking and training. Iris and Ash had started arguing about something though, and so Pikachu was for once not riding his trainer. Since it’d actually been downright pleasant these last couple of days, Meowth had decided now was as good a time as any to try and get the scoop.

“Yeah. About the Twerp.”

‘ _What about_ Ash _?_ ’

He happily skipped past the pointed hint. He’d been calling the Twerp ‘twerp’ for years and would probably continue to do so until the day either one of them dropped off the mortal coil. “You know how he builds a team in every new place he goes, right?”

‘ _Yeah…?_ ’

“Why’s he do that? I mean, why doesn’t he just keep the same team in each region? Why do only you get to go?”

Pikachu stared a little, then shrugged. ‘ _He wants to meet new pokemon. And he’s never gonna get to be a stronger trainer if he just keeps using strong pokemon for every match. Charizard could wipe the floor with every gym leader in this place._ ’

“Yeah, but this whole thing with Zekrom aside, so could you, and he takes you everywhere.”

Pikachu actually looked smug, but it was obviously trying to seem modest as it said, ‘ _Well, you know._ ’

“Right. I guess even last-resort starters are still special to some trainers,” Meowth drawled, and Pikachu jerked before starting up the Leer again.

‘ _How do you know about that?_ ’

“Hey, I know my Pokemon! Kanto starters are Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. You ain’t none of them, an’ you were the first,” he said. “Pikachu don’t get raised by professors.”

‘ _I could’ve been if I wanted,_ ’ it muttered, but he knew it couldn’t really argue the point. It could, however, get offended that being Ash’s starter was his only reason to bring it along. ‘ _Ash brings me because we’re best friends! Partners! He’d never leave me behind, and I’d never let him leave without me!_ ’

“Best friends, huh? You know, friendship only goes so far,” he said, quietly wondering if Jessie and James could leave him behind the way they did Wobbafet. The question hadn’t come up, but if it had…?

‘ _Meowth?_ ’ Pikachu watched him for a few moments, then reached out and patted his shoulder in silent comfort.

Meowth tried not to sneer. It was almost as bad as its trainer.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Twerp.”

“What is it, Meowth.”

The Twerp had been in a lousy mood ever since his argument with Iris. Meowth still wasn’t sure what it was about, but even now they’d stopped for lunch, the kid was completely avoiding both her and Cilan. The second he finished eating, he’d collected the pots, pans, and his plate, and stalked off to do the dishes.

Seemed as good a time as any to get info outta him.

“How’s come you like pokemon so much?”

“What?” Ash looked at him like he was crazy. “Why’re you askin’ a question like that?”

“Seemed like it was worth askin’,” he said, and dropped down into a feline crouch to stare up at the Twerp properly. It was easier to think like this, sometimes. “I mean, I’ve met plenty of weirdo humans in my day. Creeps that want to do whacky stuff with pokemon. Even some humans that think they are pokemon. But none like you. And Pikachu was tellin’ me about how you switch teams every region so you can make ‘new friends’ and train them up to be stronger too. That’s not what most pokemon trainers in the leagues do, y’know.”

Ash kept blinking at him for almost a minute, before he abruptly scowled and turned back to the pots. “Yeah, well, maybe if more trainers did stuff the way I do, we wouldn’t have so many problems understanding each other.”

If Meowth had eyebrows, he would have raised them. “Trainers with trainers or trainers with pokemon?”

“Either one,” he said angrily.

“Uhh… speakin’ of not understandin’, I feel like I might be missin’ part of this conversation here, Twerp.”

Ash glanced at him, then sighed loudly, dropping over the pan. “Yeah. I guess I’m not making a lot of sense. Sorry, Meowth.”

“So is this about what you and the girl-Twerp were arguin’ about?” he asked, without really knowing why, and Ash nodded.

“Kind of. Well. No. Maybe. It’s something that seems to come up with a lot of my friends,” he said, straightening up again. “But it doesn’t matter. You were askin’ why I care about pokemon so much, right?”

His tail flicked behind him, not entirely sure why he decided to say, “Nah, maybe forget about that. What’s the problem with you and the girl-Twerp?”

“It’s nothing, Meowth, really.”

“Can’t be nothin’ if it keeps comin’ up with your friends,” he pointed out. “What’s the deal?”

The Twerp frowned quietly for a minute, then sighed again. “When me and Pikachu first got to Unova, we saw Zekrom. It hit me and Pikachu with some kind of lightning attack – that’s why Pikachu’s not as strong as it used to be. Zekrom’s attack sucked all the electricity outta it,” he said, and Meowth nodded. He knew that. Ash went back to rinsing out the pot. “Iris doesn’t believe me. Not that I saw Zekrom, and not that it hit us. She kind of believes something really powerful hurt Pikachu, but she says if it was something that could affect Pikachu that badly, it would’ve killed me.”

Meowth nodded again. Logic sure said so too. But he’d known the Twerp too long to care what logic thought.

“And it’s not even that! She says if I’d really seen a Legendary like Zekrom, I would’ve been telling everyone. Can you believe that? She calls me an idiot and a little kid all the time, and now she’s callin’ me a liar just because I don’t act like an idiot about Zekrom!” he cried, and slammed the now-rinsed pot down on the draining cloth before furiously taking up the next. “Man, I just hate how people do that! Like Legendaries are so much better than everyone else, just because you don’t see ’em so much!”

“Uh, hate to interrupt your rant there, Twerp, but Legendaries kinda are better than the rest of us,” Meowth interjected. “Y’know, bein’ able to mess with time, space, an’ all.”

“So what if they can?” he snapped. “You mess with space every time you use Fury Swipes. Just because Legendaries are more powerful, that doesn’t make them _better_.”

Meowth couldn’t help the helpless little laugh that escaped him. “Actually I’m pretty sure that’s kinda the definition there, pally.”

“No, it _isn’t_!” Ash slammed the pot down so hard it clanged against the dirt, and Meowth flinched, then leapt to his feet when he found the Twerp giving him The Eye. He even stabbed a finger in the air between them to make more of a point. “Power isn’t even a single thing! There are loads of different types of power! So what if Giratina can move between worlds? Does that make it more powerful than Palkia, who can change space? What good was either power when they went up against Dialga? When it came down to it, Palkia and Dialga were just throwin’ hyper beams and hidden powers at each other, and I can name a hundred ‘ordinary’ pokemon that can do that!”

“Uhh…”

“And none of that’s got anything to do with what makes a pokemon good,” Ash continued firmly. “It’s got nothin’ to do with a pokemon’s ability to – to make a hurt girl feel safe, or bring people together. It’s got nothing to do with how a pokemon battle can fire people up, or how a contest makes people smile. All the power in the world is nothing when all a lonely person needs is someone to love them.”

Meowth fell back on his haunches, shocked into silence. All the energy seemed to have run out of Ash, his shoulders slumping as he turned away. “So many people think of pokemon like… like all that matters is their stats. Even the people that talk about how important it is to love and care for your pokemon never really seem to get it. Why can’t they see that all pokemon are awesome, no matter what kind of pokemon they are?”

“That’s…” Meowth bit down on the urge to tell him how stupid, naïve, or just plain twerpish he was being. Meowth was a pokemon and even he knew that all that really mattered was your moveset. After all, you couldn’t compare a magikarp to a gyarados. But he was living off charity and the Twerp’s good will right now, so he went with a different angle than just outright calling him crazy. “That’s why you keep changin’ teams, huh? To prove you don’t need an overpowered team to be strong.”

“Nah, though I do think that,” he said, and picked up the pot again. “I just want to meet new friends. And if I’ve already got a full team, any pokemon I catch will just go straight back to a lab. Where’s the fun in that?”

Meowth didn’t say anything, just held his aching head. This Twerp made no sense!

 

* * *

 

“Your trainer is somethin’ else,” Meowth announced as he dropped down among the other pokemon.

‘ _Whose trainer?_ ’ Snivy asked curtly. She still didn’t like him.

‘ _Don’t be coy,_ ’ Emolga snapped back. ‘ _Of course it’s talking about your trainer._ ’

‘ _Girls, girls,_ ’ Pansage tried, only to immediately shut up when they both glared at it.

‘ _You ask me, all our trainers are something else,_ ’ Stunfisk said lazily. ‘ _Something crazy._ ’

‘ _Can’t argue with that,_ ’ Pikachu said quietly, before flicking an ear in Meowth’s direction. ‘ _So, do you mean Ash? What’d he do this time?_ ’

‘ _Oh, oh, did you train with him?_ ’ Oshawott asked excitedly. ‘ _Did he do the thing?_ ’

“The thing?” Meowth asked, noticing how Pikachu’s ears went straight up for a second before lowering with its nervous laugh.

‘ _Nothing, nothing! You know Oshawott, always running his mouth,_ ’ it said, but it was too late.

‘ _It’s not nothing,_ ’ Excadrill said grumpily. ‘ _If my trainer could do it, I’d be able to beat just about anybody._ ’

‘ _Hey, it’s not just because of Ash that we’re strong!_ ’ Oshawott objected. ‘ _I can beat you right here and now!_ ’

Excadrill turned a single eye on it. ‘ _Are you sure you’d like to test that?_ ’

‘ _Um._ ’

‘ _Shame about the rest of him, though,_ ’ Stunfisk said. ‘ _Stupidity trumps special ability in my book._ ’

Snivy calmly snapped out a vinewhip to whack it off its rock perch.

‘ _Like your trainer can talk,_ ’ Emolga teased as Stunfisk crashed back into the ground. ‘ _Iiiiiit’s evaluation time! Please!_ ’

Snivy slapped her, too. And then it was on.

As the two girls started arguing, everyone watching in a kind of resigned interest, Meowth leaned toward Oshawott. “So what’s the thing?”

‘ _You mean you haven’t noticed?_ ’ it asked. ‘ _I thought everyone knew about the thing! It’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?_ ’

‘ _If it’s not obvious to Meowth, maybe you shouldn’t mention it,_ ” Tepig suggested quietly, though its eyes were still on the fight.

‘ _Yeah,_ ’ Pikachu added quickly. ‘ _Meowth’s been following us for years – if he hasn’t noticed, he probably isn’t interested!_ ’

“Nah, I don’t mind bein’ schooled,” Meowth said, carefully not seeing what he knew was an aggravated glance. “After all, I have been followin’ the kid for so long, I probably saw him start doin’ it and forgot it was something special!”

‘ _It’s not something you see!_ ’ Oshawott laughed. ‘ _You’ve gotta have noticed it! How sometimes, when you’re fighting, you just feel super,_ _super_ , super _strong!_ _And things suddenly get easier, like how I can block stuff with my scallop! When Ash is around, I can even block hyper beams!_ ’

‘ _Unless the opponent gets the boost too,_ ’ Excadrill reminded it. ‘ _Then it’s no help._ ’

‘ _It’s still awesome!_ ’

Meowth blinked. “You seriously think the Twerp makes you stronger? Not like a trainer normally does, but like really stronger?”

‘ _Exactly,_ ’ Pikachu suddenly interjected again. ‘ _It’s just that you haven’t had a trainer before. Ash isn’t –_ ’

‘ _Don’t be ridiculous, Pikachu,_ ’ Stunfisk said bluntly. ‘ _I’ve seen hundreds of trainers. Been in thousands of battles. Your trainer makes everyone around him stronger – including other trainers. Heck knows mine isn’t nearly as impressive as he is with the idiot cheering him on._ ’

Pikachu stared at it, ears twitching very slightly, before it slowly turned to look at Meowth again. It didn’t say anything though, so Meowth went back to the others.

“I did notice somethin’, but it was when he was usin’ that brush.”

‘ _I wouldn’t know about that. I get my care from Cilan,_ ’ Stunfisk said mildly.

‘ _You more notice the power boost when you can suddenly do things you didn’t used to be able to,_ ’ Excadrill said, glancing back from the fight. ‘ _And because those new skills are harder when he’s not around. Or because evolving happens sooner than you thought it should._ ’

“Huh.” Meowth blinked. He’d certainly noticed evolution tended to happen more often around the Twerp than was normal. And even Jessie and James knew they were less likely to win if he was around. They’d always just attributed it to bad luck, but now these guys mentioned it…

“Oh, Ash!”

They all looked up and around as the topic of their conversation came back into the clearing. Cilan stood up to take the pots from him.

“Thanks for doing all of this. I appreciate it! Are you ready to go?”

“What about the rest of the dishes?”

“We packed them away already. Iris is going to do them after dinner tonight, so we can get a move on now,” Cilan said, sweeping away to finish packing things up. “You go collect your pokemon and we’ll get on the road.”

“Yeah, I – wha? Snivy, Emolga!” Ash ran over to snatch up Snivy, holding her up and away from the argument. “Geez, can’t you two get along for five minutes?”

The girls both humphed and twisted their heads away from each other. Meowth, on the other hand, looked to Pikachu, who avoided his gaze.

 

* * *

 

Pikachu was quiet for most of the afternoon, and then there had been that mess with the weirdo and his Beeheeyem. Not that Meowth cared – after the lousy night’s sleep and how darn cheerful the Twerp was despite everything, he was feeling pretty crabby even after breakfast.

Which was kinda why he was surprised when Pikachu got down off Ash’s shoulder to walk beside him. They didn’t talk, just walked together in silence for several minutes.

Then Pikachu spoke. ‘ _If you let Ash train you, I bet you could learn Payday._ ’

Meowth snorted. “Please. I know my move slots, and I ain’t givin’ up the ability to talk or walk for nobody.”

‘ _I’m pretty sure they’d become abilities,_ ’ he said. Meowth noticed it wasn’t looking at him, and it was speaking quickly, like it was kind of hoping he would miss things. ‘ _Ash can do that sort of thing._ ’

“Yeah, right. The power boost, the crazy fast evolving, that I’ll buy,” he said, annoyed by the whole thing. “But no way could he teach me a move I ain’t had a chance a’learnin’ since you was a pichu!”

‘ _Never happened,_ ’ Pikachu insisted, apparently automatically, because it carried on as if it hadn’t said anything. ‘ _Ash can help pokemon do lots of things they shouldn’t be able to do. He even tries to teach us moves we normally couldn’t learn, because he says that even if we can’t work it out, if we understand how it works, that’ll help us avoid it. Only… sometimes we do work it out, and we learn a move we shouldn’t be able to._ ’

“That’s got nothin’ –”

‘ _Only… only we don’t really learn them like normal, they’re just kinda things we can do. If you got Ash to help you, I’m sure the way you walk and talk would just be things you can do, and PayDay would be your next move,_ ’ it said, and turned its head away, as if that would muffle it saying, ‘ _That’s what Ash does. He helps people and pokemon become better than they should be. No matter what that means._ ’

“Yeah, yeah, trainers are great, I heard it all before,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You caught pokemon are all the same. But I ain’t bein’ caught by nobody, you understand? I’m a free pokemon!”

‘ _That’s not what I –_ ’ Pikachu stopped, then sighed. ‘ _Forget it._ ’

It sped up, and without breaking stride or the Twerp even pausing, leapt up onto Ash’s hip, up again onto his shoulder, and then finally slumped over his head. Meowth stared at their backs, feeling a bit like he’d missed something.

**Author's Note:**

> The 48 is a collection of unfinished and/or pointless fics saved to my hard drive, now posted to Ao3 for people's interest or in case they want to adopt them.
> 
> This is one of the few arcs of Black and White that I watched, when Meowth switched sides for like five episodes. While I get that he needed to get into the facility, I didn't really get the point of it as a character arc. Still! If I try I can usually make something out of nothing...


End file.
